(2006-09-18) Gabbay Myspace Success

Nisan Gabbay on the factors behind MySpace's success. Interesting that he frames it as an intentional Friendster competitor, and also that he points out that its initial growth was not based on Viral techniques. If the two largest Web 2.0 successes (based on number of registered users) are Skype and MySpace, I think it is interesting to note that each benefited from having a major distribution partnership during launch. As I will highlight in an upcoming Skype case study, Skype got its initial distribution through Kazaa. Since the founders of Skype also founded Kazaa, they had an easy way to jumpstart the Skype service by advertising it through the KaZaa network of desktop clients. While both Skype and MySpace were inherently viral products, they might not have reached such large scale in such a short period of time without that initial impulse function from distribution channels. Furthermore, Web 2.0 entrepreneurs should recognize that they are not just competing with the large, slow-moving giants, but other nimble start-ups with large distribution at their disposal as a primary weapon. Other examples beyond Skype and MySpace, are lesser known successes born out of ad networks.